Event is one of many activities planned throughout UH system to celebrate International Education Week

More than 250 international students who are participants in the 15th Ship for World Youth program will be on the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa campus on Tuesday, November 19, for a day of cultural performances, panel discussions and international exchange with UH students.

The Ship for World Youth is an exchange project hosted by the government of Japan that was initiated in 1988. It brings together youth between the ages of 18 and 30 from Japan and around the world to promote friendship and mutual understanding, broaden their perspectives on the world, and strengthen their motivation and ability of international cooperation.

The program starts in Japan, and after an orientation, participants board a ship and travel through the Pacific and South Pacific. While at sea, the program offers seminars and cultural, sports, and leisure activities that lead the participants to interact and learn about each other‘s country and culture. This year, participants come from 12 different countries with Japan, as the host, sponsoring the largest contingent of approximately 120 youth.

The program‘s stop in Hawaiʻi will bring more than 250 international students to UH Mānoa for a half-day program in the Campus Center Ballroom that will feature cultural performances and welcoming remarks by UH President Evan S. Dobelle. A panel discussion with UH students and faculty and Ship for World Youth students will take a look at "Uniting Nations — Creating Conditions for Peaceful Coexistence." The event will culminate with the creation of a collaborative art piece that students and faculty can add to throughout the week.

The event is one of many activities planned at campuses throughout the UH system to celebrate International Education Week. Various lectures and panel discussions are planned at UH Mānoa and Kapiʻolani and Honolulu Community Colleges, as well as an International Education Fair on Tuesday, November 19, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at UH West Oʻahu and Leeward Community College.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige have called for the celebration of International Education Week, November 18-22, 2002. International Education Week is a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education to promote programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn, and exchange experiences in the United States.

For more information about International Education Week, visit http://exchanges.state.gov/iew/.